iviaudio.ax - is v2.6 the best choice?

[Xenoide]

Well, did anyone of you see ever not greyed out entries for 4 or 6 channels with the iviaudio.ax decoder?

No matter what I try, only 2 channel modes and SPDIF are selectable.

And with this alternative AC3 decoder...

Does it work well with WinDVD 4 PLUS or is there a conflict between it and WinDVD? I'd like to keep the Intervideo Decoder for my DVDs, since it works satisfactory there. But not with AVI files...

[theReal]

Why don't you just play divx with WinDVD? If you have a full version of WinDVD 4, that's one of the best solutions, imho.

WinDVD is, other than PowerDVD, able to keep the aspect ratio for divx on fullscreen display.

I guess if WinDVD plays the sound correctly for DVDs, it should also play it well with avi files. I only had the trial version for a short test and that does -of course, due to licence stuff...- not decode to 5.1 or 4 channel, but only to Dolby Surround, just like the iviaudio.ax directshow filter for other applications.
btw I think noone has ever seen the iviaudio.ax work for 4 channel and 5.1 channel decoding in other applications, unless it was a hacked version.

[Xenoide]

haha, good joke.

It's so weird...

Even inside WinDVD the AVIs will only play with 2 channels, no matter what I set up. When I load a *.vob or DVD it works surprisingly well.

And now, if I try to playback the *.vob in WMP guess what: Yeah! Again only 2 channels.

This start really to annoy me. I want 5.1 playback of my AVIs. It must be something with configuration. I mean the iviaudio.ax can provide the 5.1 sound with MPEG2 files in WinDVD, but why not in WMP and why won't the DivX files playback properly in WinDVD?

This problem occurs as well in Windows 2k as in Windows 98. I will have to use this other AC3 decoder, but I would be much happier, if the WinDVD stuff would work instead...

[Budginator]

I've had issues with iviaudio.ax for a considerable amount of time, and only just now am i getting a handle on it...

I have tried these iviaudio.ax versions-

v2.0
v2.6
v3.0.57.8 (i think its the full version, but not sure)
v4.0.5.20 (trial- this is the only one that works w/4-channel output)

After much piss farting around, my trial version now appears to be working in 4 channel mode indefinatley (its supposed to cut out after 7mins isn't it?).

However, i've only tested it with the AC3 extracted from LOTR, not with an AC3-AVI as of yet, but it seems to work fine.

Getting AC3 playback to work has been the most difficult aspect of using 5.1 divx's, and had put me off making them for some time, not anymore I hope!

[theReal]

Budginator, are you sure the trial really works with 4-channel output, or can you just select 4-channel but it decodes to Dolby Surround (2.1 channels)? This is what the trial of WinDVD 4 did in my case. I could select everything, but the sound was DolbySurround (took a while until I heard the difference...)


I mean the iviaudio.ax can provide the 5.1 sound with MPEG2 files in WinDVD, but why not in WMP As far as I read, these software decoders cost a lot of money that the companies have to pay to Dolby Labs. I guess it's just like with the Fraunhofer mp3 codec, Dolby Labs does not allow their expensive little software decoder to be distributed as a neat little 300kb Directshow filter that can be be used in every application and can be spread through the web in no time...


btw I unregistered all AC3 filters and registered the Moonlight Odio Dekoda - it doesn't affect PowerDVD 4. It still plays DVD's with all audio decoding options. It seems PowerDVD does not use its own registered Directshow filter, but it uses the decoder internally. Maybe this is also the case with WinDVD, so you could easily use another filter for WMP but WinDVD would still work.

[masken]

Originally posted by KyleK
AC3 and Computers...it's a mess ;) Did you install the SPDIF Output enabler (aka setting output to waveout)? This fixes the desynch on AVIs with AC3, but DVDs played with PowerDVD get desynched. It is so damn annoying. Works the other way around if I enable DirectSound :P Yeah, indeed ;) No, I haven't tried that, will do.

Too bad u didn't get it working m8 :( Guess it's that other CODEC for you?

AC3 rocks in general though (I actually replace my encodes in MP3/other shit with AC3 one's), if it weren't for those danged filterissues ;)

[Budginator]

Originally posted by theReal
Budginator, are you sure the trial really works with 4-channel output, or can you just select 4-channel but it decodes to Dolby Surround (2.1 channels)? This is what the trial of WinDVD 4 did in my case. I could select everything, but the sound was DolbySurround (took a while until I heard the difference...)

TheReal,

Yeah, i'm 100% positive. My test is an AC3 5.1 AVI of Behind Enemy Lines. The scene in which the serbs are firing on the hill 'our hero' is running up, if i turn off the front and center, and turn up the rear, the only sounds that come through them are very loud bullet 'wiz' noises and bullets hitting trees, no music or ambient noise, just richocets and the like (like the bullet effects in SPR)... (also, the music is in the front two channels in that scene).

I'm a little confused to be honest, as it has always cut out @ 7mins before... I installed the Moonlight pack, and uninstalled/reinstalled differant versions of iviaudio.ax a few times, things like that, until i removed the moonlight pack, set it to use wave out and installed the v4.0 of iviaudio.ax, and now it works in 4 channel mode indefinatley.

*shruggs*

btw, i'm using a CMI 8738 chipped card...

[theReal]

The only difference between 4-channel and Dolby Surround is that the rear channel is stereo with 4-channel, while it is mono with Dolby Surround. So, unless you are sure that the rear-channel bullet whizzes are stereo, it could as well be Dolby Surround...

[Budginator]

Yeah i'm positive.

A bullet will ping on left and not on right, differant sounds etc, i'm 100% sure its stereo. Thanks for questioning it however, as its made me test it more! :).

cheers

*goes back to watching 'The One' in 4.1 for the first time :D*